Research Assistant

About the role

We are looking for a Research Assistant, based at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London, to join a newly funded Centre of Excellence in Paediatric Palliative Care, funded by Kentown Support charity.

Kentown Support are a new independent charity with the goal of improving the provision of community palliative care for children and families across the UK. This Centre of Excellence will undertake and disseminate high quality research and provide evidenced-based education and training for health and social care professionals and family members caring for children and young people with life-limiting conditions. The centre will inform policy and drive innovations in care delivery and organisation to enable all children and young people to have access to the care they require, including palliative care, when and where they need it.

The research assistant will work closely with Dr Bethan Page (Lecturer in Child Health & Palliative Care) on a project to explore priorities for improving social care for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. The project involves focus groups with professionals, interviews with parents and consensus-building workshops with stakeholders. They will also help administer and analyse a survey with parents on the education and training provision for parent-carers looking after children with life-limiting conditions.

The awardee will develop a diverse set of research skills in health services and social care research and gain experience in collaborative research of national and international significance. We are seeking an innovative, well-organised and promising individual who is motivated to further develop their career. This is an outstanding development opportunity for a talented individual who wishes to advance excellent and innovative research on improving care for children and young people with life limiting conditions.

This is a part-time post (21 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed-term contract until 31st August 2027.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• Masters in relevant subject area, i.e., applied health research, health services research, social care, social sciences, psychology  
• Some experience in qualitative data collection and analyses     
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise different task demands  
• Knowledge of research design   
• Being self-motivated and willing to work independently, as well as part of a larger interdisciplinary team  
• Excellent presentation and communication skills (written & verbal)  
• Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, actively addressing areas of potential bias    

Desirable criteria

• Experience of publication  
• Previous experience of working with parents or children  
• Knowledge or experience in social care

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